Dancing in the Storm
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Mikey teaches his brothers to celebrate life. Drabblish.


Title: "Dancing in the Storm"  
Author: Kat Lee, formerly Pirate Turner  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Mikey teaches his brothers to celebrate life.  
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.  
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.

They stood with Footbots destroyed and still sizzling around them. The Shredder was long gone, escaped yet again to wreck unjust vengeance another time, but their family was safe. The sky thundered its fury, echoing their own, as they stood in the rain and breathed hard after fighting the army.

But then Michelangelo stuck out his tongue and tasted the salty rainwater. His brothers watched him in puzzlement as he returned to their father's side; grasped the old, wet rat who had been looking for a way to get them home; and hugged him hard. Donatello, Leonardo, and even Raphael smiled and started to join Mikey, but he stopped again and changed directions.

It had been such a close call. Shredder's blade had actually touched Splinter's throat this time, before all their horrified eyes, but they had still managed to save him and each other. Life could be terrible, but it was always better than death and, right now, Mikey felt like celebrating the lives they had been allowed to keep this day.

Lightning cut jagged fingers through the sky as the turtle turned and shook his shell. He threw up his head again and took a whole swallow of the pouring rainwater that he knew was poisoned from the factories that polluted the city. Right now, he didn't care. He just cared that his family still lived.

He began to shake in time to the music of the rumbling thunder and blasting winds. His brothers watched him in disbelief. Splinter shook his head and returned to seeking the nearest manhole cover. It was Donatello who finally, and cautiously, asked, "Mikey, what are you doing?"

"What's it look like, bro?" Mikey asked, twisting his shell and jerking his green thumbs to the beat in his head. "I'm dancing in the rain." His brothers stared at him as though he'd taken complete leave of his senses; Master Splinter continued to ignore his jovial son. Mikey shrugged and grinned broadly at the lot of them. "I figure we fight more than enough in the rain. We're constantly almost getting killed when it storms. Why not dance at least once in the storm?"

Donatello stared him with a new light dawning in his eyes while Raphael and Leonardo just continued to look at him like he was stupid, little brother they expected him to be. Yet, Donnie understood his meaning and found it almost poetical, sad but surprisingly deep for Mikey. Slowly, he smiled and then stepped forward and joined his brother in the dance.

Leonardo's eyes darted between Raphael and Mikey and Donnie. He shrugged. "Life is something to celebrate," he said and slipped into the dance.

Raphael shook his head. "You're all nuts," he groused, but then, he, too, shrugged. "If ya can't beat 'em," he grumbled, "join 'em." He was thankful, however, that all of his family still lived, even stupid, little Mikey, and that gratitude, relief, and joy showed as he spun through the rain.

When Splinter interrupted their dance to tell them it was time to go home, the brothers looked at each other and then converged upon him as one, hugging him tightly and swearing never to let go.

**The End**


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